Highways 49 and 108, south of Sonora
Jamestown's town center is mapped Moderate fire hazard, the lowest of the state's three ratings, but that does not lift the 100-foot rule: state law asks for it across the state responsibility area. Jamestown sits in the oak savanna and grass of the low foothills, so our brush clearing in Jamestown leads with lot clearing and fire breaks, cut before the grass turns in late spring. You get one written price before we start.
Around Jamestown the foothills are oak savanna: gray pine and blue, valley and live oaks over annual grass, with chamise and manzanita on the south-facing slopes, as the county's 2024 wildfire plan describes them. CAL FIRE notes that cattle graze the lowland ranges until late spring, when the grass turns. Once it has turned, a fire in it moves fast: on July 26, 2026 the Dove Fire started at Highway 108 and Mill Villa Road and spread toward Sonora and Jamestown neighborhoods before crews stopped it at 226 acres.
A Moderate zone changes less than people think. The 100 feet around each house is still state law, inspected by CAL FIRE's Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit, and county Chapter 8.14 still asks for 15 feet of clearance over driveways, a 10-foot strip from the road edge, and vacant lots cleared where they come within 100 feet of a neighbor's building. What Moderate does change is a sale: AB 38 defensible space paperwork is required only in High and Very High zones. Zones change parcel by parcel, so check your address before you count on it. Both rules are laid out on our defensible space rules page.
On acreage we start with fire breaks along the drive and the fence lines and around barns, wells and propane tanks, then cut the open grass. In summer we cut before 10 a.m., as CAL FIRE advises, with plastic line and water on hand. Jamestown has no transfer station, so the cut material is chipped, hauled to the green waste site on Camage Avenue in Sonora with the dump fees in the price, or stacked for a permitted burn. CAL FIRE has suspended residential burning since June 15, 2026.
Our own photos from our own jobs. Tap one to see it larger.
Oak limbs that hung to the ground beside a fence, cut back so a ground fire cannot climb into the trees.
West of Sonora, July 2026
A fire break, the open grass and the 100 feet around the house usually go on one written price.
Vacant lots, acreage, fence lines and fire breaks
Acreage, field edges and vacant lots cut back before the grass cures, with fire breaks along drives and fence lines and around barns, wells and propane tanks.
Also called brush removal or clearing overgrown brush
Brush and low limbs under the oaks on the slopes around town, chipped on site or hauled to the green waste site.
The 100-foot fire clearance CAL FIRE inspects
The 100 feet around the house, which state law asks for even in a Moderate zone, with before and after photos for your insurer.
Highways 49 and 108 run together from Jamestown into Sonora, three miles north, and Columbia is three miles beyond Sonora off Highway 49.
Every town we serve in Tuolumne and Calaveras countiesOn acreage, tell us roughly how many acres and whether there is a gate or a road the trailer can use.
Call (209) 243-5574Yes. Jamestown is three miles south of Sonora on Highways 49 and 108, and we clear homes, rural acreage and vacant lots in and around town, with the same free estimate and one written price before work starts.
Yes, if your property is in the state responsibility area: state law asks for the 100 feet around each building whatever the zone, and county Chapter 8.14 adds its driveway and vacant lot rules. The zone mainly changes whether a sale needs AB 38 paperwork.
Not as of October 17, 2026: CAL FIRE suspended residential burning on June 15. When it reopens you need a CAL FIRE permit and an air district permit, piles 4 feet or smaller, and a burn day, (209) 533-5598. Until then we chip it or haul it.
Before the grass cures in late spring, ideally by late May. After that we still cut, but only in the early morning, never on a hot or windy day, with plastic line and water on hand, as CAL FIRE advises for dry grass.
Tell us where the property is and what needs clearing. We call you back the same day, usually within the hour, and set a time to walk it with you, in person or on the phone if you are out of the area.
